shopping

Paper or plastic?

I was Whole Foods the other day getting dark chocolate covered almonds- a superfood – both the dark chocolate and the almonds combined. Here’s my bag of almonds.

Next to me was a lady getting some sort of nuts.

The way it’s set up, the items are all in bins and you take what you want in a paper bag, write down the code number and use the code number to pay when you check out. It’s charged by the pound or the ounce, or the miniscule ounce, according to the lady.

Here are the bins, you take one of the paper bags and do your thing. But this lady was struggling with one of those green plastic bags used for fruits and vegetables, which are not rigid, once you figure out how to get them open – and don’t really work well for the candy and nuts dropping from the bins.

I said to the lady, “Here are the paper bags, it’s easier to use these.”

Her reply had everyone in the vicinity who heard the conversation, stop in their tracks. She said, “The plastic bags are lighter.”

I stood there for a minute and said, “What do they save you, a tenth of a penny?” People laughed and the lady huffed off.

I know times are tough and things are expensive, but I would assume anyone shopping in Whole Foods could afford the extra tenth of a penny that might be the difference in the bag weights.

It got me thinking – are we paying for the bags when we weigh the candy and nuts? And then I slapped myself out of it, the lady almost had me thinking like her, “How could I save a tenth of a penny by avoiding all bags?”

Anyway, I just found the whole incident funny. I wasn’t trying to make fun of the lady. But she was a Karen if ever I saw one. A silent Karen because I’m the one who started talking to her, she was quiet and doing her own thing.

Oh right, she said as she huffed off, “It’s easier to eat from the plastic bags than the paper ones.”

Whatever.

Till next time . . .

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What’s behind my Publix self-checkout scrutiny?

An odd thing happened at Publix the other day. I was checking out at the self-check-out, which I always do, and the lady who runs the front area at the check-out, came up to me and asked me if I scanned something, assuming I didn’t – they were pomegranate seeds/arils.

She knows me, she sees me there all the time. She said hello to me when I first walked into the store. So I found it very odd, and insulting.

At first I couldn’t hear her and I thought she was asking about the arils. Sometimes when you go through the regular checkout lines, they ask about the food you are buying if it’s something they aren’t familiar with. It’s a bit strange, but they do that. “Is it good?” “What is that?” Things like that; so I thought she was asking about that.

I told her I did scan the item and she should check it on the screen, which she did. She actually looked at the list of food and saw it was scanned.

I found the whole incident strange. Maybe they are trying to stop pilferage, which I can see happening at self-checkouts and it seemed like she randomly chose an item to ask about – or is there a pilferage problem with pomegranate arils, which are overpriced- but so is everything in Publix.

Maybe she was being watched by management and felt the need to look useful, who knows. But it was a rude thing to do to a regular customer – someone she knows.

If they are worried about pilferage, maybe they should follow the old men who take food from the produce department and eat it in the store – they grab cherries, grapes, etc. constantly and eat it right there without paying.

They should really watch the schmucks that Publix allows to walk around the store with firearms – yes, open carry idiots. Those are the ones who need to be watched (and banned from the public and Publix).

I like self-checkouts and use them in all stores that have them – Target, Walgreen, CVS, Home Depot, Winn-Dixie, etc. I find it fast and I don’t have to have a conversation with anyone. It’s just in and out. And I’ve never had an issue with being questioned before.

I am tempted to ask her why she questioned me the next time I am there, but I’ll just let it go. Guess the $60 billion Publix made last year wasn’t enough, they want to be sure they get every penny that’s coming to them.

Till next time . . .

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Why does Whole Foods have the rudest shoppers?

Over the weekend I went to Whole Foods. The parking garage was full as usual so I parked far away from the store. As I walked toward the store, I peeked around the columns because drivers at this particular location drive like it’s a racetrack – in the small garage.

As I walked by one column, a black car came barreling toward me. The guy made a turn from the main lane, into the parking lane. I jumped back. It reminded me of Charlie Brown at the end of the Christmas special – where he sees the little Christmas tree all decked out and he jumps back.

The car came to a screeching stop. I just stood there and looked at the guy. I put my arms out as if to say, “What was that?” As I walked out from in front of the car, the guy pulls up and I am expecting him to apologize, but he starts yelling at me. He yells, “I wasn’t even speeding!” Did I say a word? Guilty conscious, I guess.

He was speeding. Everybody does in that garage, I still haven’t figured out why.

So I yelled at the guy, “This isn’t a racetrack!” And he started screaming at me from his car again. And we started yelling back and forth for a bit and I finally walked away.

The funny part is that he seemed like a nice guy. But he was upset and so was I.

I was hoping to see him in the store so I could tease him and call him “Speed Racer.” But I never did see him. He seemed like the type you could tease, I don’t know why, I just got that feeling. His yelling I think was out of embarrassment.

This particular Whole Foods is known for its rude shoppers. Driving like maniacs, blocking aisles while screaming to someone on their phones, walking around the open food with dogs (and a pig one time), hitting you with their shopping cart. Very rude, entitled people in this particular store.

People block things with their shopping carts, and they know they are wrong, because I usually push the carts far away from them and they just look, but don’t say anything. What could they say?

The other day, a family of six blocked every aisle with their shopping cart. Ever time I turned round, there they were taking over the aisles.

I only notice this when I return from being in NY for a long time, usually I guess I have nothing to compare it with. But when I come home and visit Whole Foods for the first time, it’s glaring. I live among animals.

Just another first world experience, I guess.

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‘Economic Boycott’ today

Today, February 28, there is a 24-hour economic blackout. Consumers and activists are protesting corporate greed and DEI rollbacks. So we aren’t supposed to participate in things today.

We aren’t supposed to spend money anywhere if possible, so I’m wondering about our weekly lunch that some of us do on Fridays.

Most of these boycotts don’t make sense in that the money will just be spent the next day. for instance if you need gas for our cars, which I actually do, we can just buy it the day before or after. And the same with groceries and things like that.

I guess the silence is what it’s about – sort of like the pandemic, when there was no one out or on the streets. “Enjoy the Silence,” as Depeche Mode says.

The whole thing is to mainly to boycott the high cost of living. It shows the economic power of everyday people.

So fast food, gas and major retailers are on the list to boycott for the day, which again, will only have the items purchased the day after. But the idea is to have no one in these establishments to prove a point.

If we must spend, it’s recommended that we only support small local business, none of the big stores and places, so maybe my lunch at a local restaurant can still happen.

We’ll see.

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Confusion at the supermarket

This cartoon idea came to me last week when we were at the arts festival.

For years they had the same artists in the same spots. I was friends with one of the organizers and I said to him, “Why don’t you move the artists around? They are always in the same spaces?”

He said, “We do that so their regular fans/customers can find them.”

Which I thought wasn’t a good idea since if people had to walk around the festival to find their favorite artist, they would get to see everything, not just make a beeline to their favorite.

So this year, there were new organizers and finally, they moved the artists around which made the whole thing feel fresh.

But as we were talking about it, one of my friends mentioned how we were all irritated when the supermarket’s changed the aisles around, and that’s how I got the idea for this cartoon.

Now that I think about it, it’s been awhile since anything has been changed at my Publix or Winn-Dixie. Hope I didn’t put this idea into the Universe.

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